What is peer-to-peer fundraising and how does it work?

In peer-to-peer fundraising, supporters raise money for your cause from their own friends and family. Here is how it works, with steps and tips.

Peer-to-peer fundraising (P2P for short) means your supporters start their own fundraiser for your cause and ask their own friends, family and colleagues to give. Think of someone running a marathon, donating their birthday to your charity or organising a quiz night. You provide the framework, they provide their network.

Why does it work so well?

People give more readily to someone they know than to an organisation they do not. The ask comes from someone they trust, with a personal story attached. That lets you reach people you could never reach yourself, and discover new donors you can then thank and follow up. Bodies such as GivingTuesday and the Association of Fundraising Professionals have described P2P for years as a core part of modern fundraising.

What forms are there?

Sports challenge: running, cycling, swimming or another feat that friends sponsor.
Personal occasion: a birthday, wedding or farewell where guests are asked to give instead of bringing gifts.
Supporter-run event: a quiz, a dinner or a second-hand market.
Team or company action: a school, club or business raises money together.

Set up P2P in five steps

Pick a clear goal, make starting very easy, give materials, follow up and encourage, then thank and report at the end.

Pick a clear goal. Where does the money go? "For 200 school packs" works better than "for our work".
Make it very easy. A person should be able to create their own page with photo, story and target in a few minutes.
Give materials and examples. A sample text, a few images, a step-by-step guide and a clear deadline.
Follow up and encourage. Thank every participant, share their progress and offer a first gift or a nudge when someone stalls.
Thank and report. Show what the total achieved. It motivates people for next time.

Tips for participants

Your participants are not professionals, so help them. Tell them they may make the first gift themselves, tell a personal story, share updates regularly and ask directly rather than just posting a link. Someone who emails or messages people personally usually raises far more than someone who posts once on social media.

Research supports this, although it is old. In the Blackbaud Peer-to-Peer Fundraising Study, with 2015 data from the United States and Canada, walk participants who sent emails raised 7 to 20 times more than those who did not. Their emails had a 42.3% open rate and a 27.9% click-through rate. That is a link: people who email are usually also more motivated.

What to watch for

Control over your message. Give guidelines, for example for your name and logo, so pages fit who you are.
Privacy. Treat givers' data according to the GDPR and let everyone give anonymously.
Tax rules. Make sure the gift reaches your organisation and issue certificates correctly under your country's rules.
Realistic expectations. Not every participant reaches their goal. The sum of many small efforts is what counts.

Do not expect everyone to come back either. According to the 2019 Classy report, only 14% of peer-to-peer fundraisers created a new page within two years. Those who returned typically raised over twice as much as those who took part once.

An example

A football club asks twenty parents each to start their own page for a new youth team. Each shares the page with family and colleagues, adds a personal story and posts a short weekly update. These are illustrative figures, but the mechanism is clear: twenty networks instead of one, and new givers the club can then thank and invite.

In WeGlow

This is where WeGlow is strong. With community fundraising, supporters can start their own fundraising page for your campaign or event ("Start your fundraiser"). They share it in a few taps through Facebook, LinkedIn, WhatsApp or a copy link, and can post updates on their page. Glowie, WeGlow's assistant, can rewrite a fundraiser story in a personal, professional or urgent tone, and the original text is kept until the user confirms.

How is it different from crowdfunding?

Crowdfunding is one campaign for a project. Peer-to-peer is a way of running it in which many people each approach their own network.

How many participants do I need?

There is no minimum. Start with a small group of loyal supporters and build on what works.

Who gets the money?

The money goes to your organisation, not the participant. That must be clear to everyone on the page.

Do participants come back after their first fundraiser?

Not automatically. According to the 2019 Classy report, only 14% of peer-to-peer fundraisers created a new page within two years, but those who returned raised over twice as much. So thank participants personally and invite them to take part again once it is over.

Sources

Blackbaud Peer-to-Peer Fundraising Study (2016): research on events and participants, 2015 data, United States and Canada.
Classy, The State of Modern Philanthropy 2019: returning peer-to-peer fundraisers, 2017 and 2018 data.
Association of Fundraising Professionals: sector information on fundraising methods and ethics.
GivingTuesday: examples of community-driven campaigns.
European Commission, data protection: GDPR rules for givers' data.
WeGlow features: checked in the WeGlow code on 2 October 2026.